What do you think of the choices Huong made – what to take and what to leave? What items would you take with you if you knew you could only take so much with you?

Huong recalls leaving her home and wonders she would have brought along if she'd known their future. What do you think of the choices she made – what to take and what to leave? What items would you take with you if you knew you could only take so much with you, and that you wouldn't be able to return for years?

Having lost all our belongings during Hurricane Andrew in Miami in 1992, I realize that, other than family and self, the things that matter are those few precious items like photographs or mementos of your children's childhood become what you miss the most. The necklace that was not only of sentimental but also financial value was a good choice.

I agree with Vicki. We lost a lot of our possessions in a house fire 20 years ago. The things I tried to save were photos, momentos, a cross stich stocking I was working on. At that time, I realized that so much of the things I have can really be replaced. The necklace was a good item for her to save. It had sentimental and monetary value.

I agree with what the other ladies here are saying.
I was so surprised that Huong didn't take any pictures. She was so attached in her mind and spirit to her family, that even if she thought she was going to be returning, I was sad that she left her photo's behind.
The items that I would take with me would be photo's for sure. A few tokens of my life as I know it now, it all seems to change so fast doesn't it?
A good study of how little actual materialistic things matter, that when faced with great loss, the things that cost the most money aren't really at the forefront of our minds.

I imagine Huong would have taken more mementos of her family if she'd known she wasn't coming back, since (as others have mentioned) family seemed so important to her culture.

I was thinking about this, and in this day and age of The Cloud I guess it becomes less necessary to round up photos, if you're going to have to leave in a hurry. I don't have a lot of possessions that I couldn't replace. There are a few keepsakes, but I rarely look at them and don't have anyone to leave them to on my death, so I probably wouldn't take anything like that. Depending on the circumstances I'd probably be trying to take more food and survival gear, even for a short-term evacuation. And, of course, everything I could round up to keep my two cats happy & healthy!